-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
New Zeiss Victory SF !!!!!! (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Chosun Juan
- Start date
Chosun Juan
Given to Fly
Lee, no need for any of that fanciful stuff.... careful not to come off as a Zeiss apologist, fanboi, or shareholder even! :eek!: :-O
All we want is a fixed 9x50 HT, with 18mm ER and 70degree AFov. .... Ideally in a carbon fibre sandwich construction and dual density armoring to keep the weight down toward 800g !! If it helps with the hurry up they can just be moulded in CFRP -- heck! the FL's were half way there! just substitute carbon fibre strands for fiberglass and tah dah !! :t: :smoke::smoke::smoke:
I really want a 9x50 !!!! :cat:
Chosun :gh:
Holger Merlitz
Well-known member
Now that Zeiss has apparently taken my suggestion of a k=0.7 value serious, I would guess that the globe effect remains absent to at least 90% of all observers. The SF thus has a little higher amount of distortion than the average Swaro SV, yet small enough to offer only gently curved lines toward the edges of field.
What we don't know yet is how the distortion varies radially from the center toward the edge. If there exist any anomalies, such as in some of the SV ("mustache distortion") , then the globe effect might reemerge into the scene from the "back door".
Cheers,
Holger
brocknroller
porromaniac
Or the appearance of an "Oberkochen Ring" in the distortion transition zone.
If the AMD (or my scrambled acronym for it, MAD) and pincushion are better balanced than the SV EL, the SF will provide an alternative for the deep pocketed "rollingballers" who couldn't adjust to the globe effect in the SV EL. A small market segment in a niche premium sport optics market, but an alternative none-the-less that some will be happy to buy.
But at $2,700 in the states and over $3,000 abroad, it's hard to imagine that the SF will be a "high demand global product" except in Qatar, Luxemburg, Singapore and Norway, which are the Richest Countries by 2013 GDP Per Capita. If the margins are healthy enough, Zeiss won't have to sell a lot of them.
Brock
brocknroller
porromaniac
Maybe that's why Zeiss can get away with making a high-end open bridge w/out threat of litigation and Nikon couldn't. Or perhaps the addition of the third bridge makes it different enough to avoid patent infringement.
Someone above suggested the lawsuit threat was about the focuser not the open bridge design, but that wasn't the case, as someone showed when he posted the patent document, which showed that the open bridge design itself was patented.
Brock
You mean Zeiss-guys, fan-boys and shareholders are all 'head in the clouds' fanciful dreamers, not in touch with reality?
I think you have just come up with a definition of the average BF member :gh:
Lee
Brock
Of course this remains to be seen but Mike said it will sell in the States for just $100 more than Swaro's EL SV and one see's plenty of those suckers around, so I don't think the SF is aimed at a micro-niche market.
Lee
Brock,
If Nikon "really" was threatened with a law suit over their open bridge design on the 1st incarnation of the EDG Swarovski did them a favor.
Nikons was a poor design with oversized hinge covers on both hinges taking up finger space and no good places to attach the coverings to the objective tubes which caused them to "bubble" and begin working loose and nowhere to attach objective covers that would stay on the binocular. It was an ergonomic disaster. I know because I have one. I keep it because the optics are superb!
The 2nd incarnation of the EDG with it's single hinge is much better in all those areas and certainly much better looking! A handsome binocular indeed!:t:
Bob
If Nikon "really" was threatened with a law suit over their open bridge design on the 1st incarnation of the EDG Swarovski did them a favor.
Nikons was a poor design with oversized hinge covers on both hinges taking up finger space and no good places to attach the coverings to the objective tubes which caused them to "bubble" and begin working loose and nowhere to attach objective covers that would stay on the binocular. It was an ergonomic disaster. I know because I have one. I keep it because the optics are superb!
The 2nd incarnation of the EDG with it's single hinge is much better in all those areas and certainly much better looking! A handsome binocular indeed!:t:
Bob
Last edited:
brocknroller
porromaniac
Those "suckers" (the SV ELs) didn't cost $2,600 when they were first released. They eventually settled in at $2,400, but the introductory price was less when people were jumping on the bandwagon, and some also traded in their old ELs for $800 at Eagle Optics, which is now selling the 8.5x model for $2,529.
Swaro increased the price ~$200 over the past two years. Expect another $100 increase this year or next to keep competitive with Zeiss.
Maybe EO will give you $800 as a trade-in on your old HTs.
Brock
brocknroller
porromaniac
Like blunt force trauma to the head.
Glad to see that at least one other person on the forum also has "sticker shock." With people accepting the price of the SF so easily, you'd think that money grew on trees.
Also funny how some people were criticizing Zeiss for joining the "race to the bottom" when the Terra ED was announced, and now Zeiss is leading the "race to to top."
Brock
dalat
...
Well, I think it has been pointed out many times that the patent was about the focusser not the bridge design, you just managed to ignore that all along. There was even a thread dedicated to this issue.
If you read the patent text properly (a bit difficult to read, but you don't need to be a patent lawyer to get the obvious) you will find it mentionned clearly that the patented invention refers to the focusser.
Quote from the patent :
The oben bridge design is merely mentioned when describing different types of binoculars in which the focus mechanism can be used.
Zeiss is probably very accurate when talking about the "traditional double bridge", a traditional design that has been around since a long time, just as the single bridge, never patented by anyone.
Last edited:
dalat
...
People seem to have no problem accepting Swarovski prices. If the SF really turns out to be clearly better than the Swarovision, why should Zeiss sell it for less than Swarovski?
jan van daalen
Well-known member
It is obvious Brock is suffering from a Nikon EDG trauma. Don't waist your breath on this subject
Finally the SV has serious competition.
:t::t::t: to Zeiss Wetzlar on this subject!
Jan
Holger Merlitz
Well-known member
It does, kind of. Not only the US Note Bank, but also the European Central Bank are printing money in huge amounts, to "keep inflation going" - here we are. Unfortunately all this new money seems ending up in somebody else's pockets. At least, none of theses armored cars has been observed parking at the next street corner, distributing freshly printed money to the people passing by ...
Cheers,
Holger
Those "suckers" (the SV ELs) didn't cost $2,600 when they were first released. They eventually settled in at $2,400, but the introductory price was less when people were jumping on the bandwagon, and some also traded in their old ELs for $800 at Eagle Optics, which is now selling the 8.5x model for $2,529.
Swaro increased the price ~$200 over the past two years. Expect another $100 increase this year or next to keep competitive with Zeiss.
Maybe EO will give you $800 as a trade-in on your old HTs.
Brock
Its certainly big money Brock, but folks spend bigger money on cars and other stuff. Dedicated birders perhaps spend less on their cars and more on their birding kit.
Next time I am visiting my fave bins dealer I might ask him for a trade-in quote but it won't be anytime soon :smoke:
Lee
The SF Carrying Case
OK fellow Zeiss-obsessives.
The press release has some enigmatic things to say about the SF's carrying case:
Go to http://www.foto-wannack.de/fernglaser/zeiss-victory-sf-10x42-und.html
And you will see that the new case is a staggering departure from Zeiss recent perfectly adequate but rather sober efforts:t:
This explains the price, Brock
Lee
OK fellow Zeiss-obsessives.
The press release has some enigmatic things to say about the SF's carrying case:
The binoculars include a newly developed protective case for transport. The multifunctional case makes it possible to use the binoculars while zipped shut, without the neck strap. The additional magnetic closure also keeps the binoculars at ready, making them easy to use at out at a moment’s notice. The elegantly streamlined, yet highly functional design of the case allows for comfortable wearing in the field with shoulder straps or belt loops.
Go to http://www.foto-wannack.de/fernglaser/zeiss-victory-sf-10x42-und.html
And you will see that the new case is a staggering departure from Zeiss recent perfectly adequate but rather sober efforts:t:
This explains the price, Brock
Lee
Vespobuteo
Well-known member
Basic rule in marketing of a premium product,
top notch in every aspect, including price,
anything else would be stupid,
in sweden,
SF price seems to be about 30% above HT,
and 12% above Swarovski SV models,
Some posh birders will have a pretty tough autumn (both HT and SV owners)
realizing that they don't carry the most expensive binos any more.
:-O
Kammerdiner
Well-known member
OK fellow Zeiss-obsessives.
The press release has some enigmatic things to say about the SF's carrying case:
The binoculars include a newly developed protective case for transport. The multifunctional case makes it possible to use the binoculars while zipped shut, without the neck strap. The additional magnetic closure also keeps the binoculars at ready, making them easy to use at out at a moment’s notice. The elegantly streamlined, yet highly functional design of the case allows for comfortable wearing in the field with shoulder straps or belt loops.
Go to http://www.foto-wannack.de/fernglaser/zeiss-victory-sf-10x42-und.html
And you will see that the new case is a staggering departure from Zeiss recent perfectly adequate but rather sober efforts:t:
This explains the price, Brock
Lee
Oh man, they even took Swaro's case design. Now that was a mistake!!!
The "lawsuit" was never more than apocryphal. Repeated endlessly it seems to have taken on a credence it does not deserve.
Mark
Vespobuteo
Well-known member
Oh man, they even took Swaro's case design. Now that was a mistake!!!
The "lawsuit" was never more than apocryphal. Repeated endlessly it seems to have taken on a credence it does not deserve.
Mark
I think you need new glasses,
that zeiss logo is pretty obvious
